Germany Preparing for Laptop Ban on US-Bound Flights

In order to prevent delays, travelers flying through Germany's airports to the United States, and primarily through the country's largest airport Frankfurt am Main, must register large electronic devices at the airport of departure, according to local media.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The German authorities are preparing for the United States' introduction of a laptop ban on all US-bound flights, local media reported Friday.

Earlier in the day, US Department of Homeland Security spokesman David Lapan said that the department was considering the possibility of extending a laptop ban on all US-bound flights from the European Union despite ongoing talks with the bloc on the issue.

Spiegel magazine reported that now in order to prevent delays, travelers flying through Germany's airports, and primarily through the country's largest airport Frankfurt am Main, must register large electronic devices at the airport of departure.

In this regard, as the media notes, German experts are wondering why the ban only concerns the carrying of laptops into the cabin of the aircraft, while it does not apply to the luggage compartment. They warn that in case of an explosion and a fire, it would be easier to cope with the fire in the passenger compartment than in the luggage compartment, despite the cameras in it and automatic fire extinguishing systems.

On March 25, the United states banned electronic devices larger than a cell phone from carried onto planes of flights hailing from Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates over terror threat.